Where would you like to sign in?

Lloyds Banking Group Announces 4,600 Job Losses as It Cuts by 40% Its Group IT Workforce

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - Oct. 13, 2010) - Lloyds Banking Group has today announced plans to slash jobs in its Group IT Division by a further 40% and make additional jobs redundant in other areas, as it cuts its overall workforce by a further 4,600 over the next 18 months.

This latest announcement will raise to over 22,800 the number of roles the Bank has declared redundant since Lloyds TSB and HBOS merged at the beginning of 2009, although today's announcement also includes 1,737 IT roles in India that had previously been transferred there from the UK. Many thousands more job losses are still expected to follow.

Group Information Technology Job Losses (4,008)

4,008 Group Information Technology jobs will be slashed out of a total workforce of 10,000

These IT job losses will consist of the roles of 1,273 Permanent Staff, 998 Contractor Staff and 1,737 roles now based in India.

The Bank's Group IT function is to pull out of half (12 out of 24) of the sites it currently operates from and make substantial job reductions in many of those sites remaining.

The Bank's HBOS sites will bear the brunt of these job reductions, accounting for around 90% of the job losses amongst permanent staff. Some of the largest job reductions will be at HBOS sites at Edinburgh, Halifax, Leeds and Chester.

The jobs of 291 UK-based staff are being transferred to India, rather than helping to protect the positions of existing UK-based staff. This will leave almost 2,000 IT jobs remaining in India, together with thousands of other back office and processing roles.

Group Operations (Back Office & Processing) Job Losses (554)

A further 554 processing roles in the Bank's Group Operations Division are also being cut, consisting of 406 roles filled by Permanent Staff and 148 by Temporary Staff.

Why These Jobs Are Being Made Redundant

It was always obvious that once Lloyds TSB and HBOS fully integrated their operations – and the decision was taken to adopt a single cross-LBG IT platform – it would only be a matter of time before there would be more widespread job reductions amongst its IT Staff.

Most of these job losses are due to take place after next July once customer accounts have been transferred from LTSB to HBOS operating platforms, at which point the jobs supporting many HBOS-specific platforms that are being decommissioned will be made redundant.

Greatest Impact On HBOS Staff

Though it is difficult to be precise about the exact numbers, the axe will most certainly fall heaviest on the jobs of HBOS Staff. In fact, LTU estimates that 90% of the roles being made redundant amongst Permanent Staff will come from those sites where HBOS Staff are based.

Offshoring Policy Remains Intact

Whilst it is correct that the number of offshored jobs (in India) is also being cut, the work of 291 staff that could have been retained in the UK is being transferred to India.

Steve Tatlow says, "It is disgraceful that at a time when such considerable numbers of LBG IT Staff (Permanent and Contractors) are about to lose their jobs, the Bank should nevertheless still be transferring the jobs of existing staff to India".

Considerably more could be done to reduce redundancies and LTU believes that the Bank must recognise that it has a wider responsibility to its existing UK-based staff and the wider UK economy that will be hit by yet more unnecessary job losses.

Major Blow To IT Jobs Sector

No-one should underestimate the blow dealt by this announcement to the wider IT jobs sector in the areas affected most.

There can be little doubt that areas such as Edinburgh, Halifax, Leeds and Chester will be unable to easily absorb such large numbers of extra people (LBG Permanent Staff and Contractors) seeking alternative jobs outside of the Bank; particularly given the current economic climate.

As a consequence, many of the staff being made redundant are likely to struggle to obtain suitable alternative work.

A fuller analysis of this announcement, its impact on LBG Staff and the wider IT Jobs Sector, can be found on our website at www.ltu.co.uk.

Union Comments

Steve Tatlow, Assistant General Secretary at LTU has said:

"This is not only a further devastating blow for Lloyds Staff – bringing to 22,800 the number of job losses announced since Lloyds TSB and HBOS merged – but to jobs in the wider economy and the IT Sector in particular".

"The IT Jobs Sector in the UK is going to be flooded with highly skilled professionals over the next 18 months as over 3,200 LBG Staff and Contractors begin to seek work outside of the Bank".

"Rather than transferring to India the jobs of a further 291 permanent staff that could have been retained in the UK, we are insisting that LBG should be doing more for the UK economy by returning back to the UK IT and other jobs previously transferred to India".

"Though Lloyds has so far announced over 22,800 job reductions, it still feels that there is a long way further to go. Our original predictions of 25,000 jobs being redundant – dismissed as alarmist at the time – are now clearly underestimates"

About Lloyds Trade Union (LTU)

Lloyds Trade Union (LTU) is the largest independent trade union representing staff working in the Lloyds Banking Group, with over 40,000 members. In large parts of the Bank, LTU represents over 90% of all managers and staff.